Breech operating mechanism



Sept. 19, 1950 o. L. BEARDsLl-:Y ETAL y 2,522,497

BREECH OPERATING MEcHANIsM Filed April 28, 1948 y 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 DRH: L EJEAR D5 LEY, RALPH WFUX,

HARVEYM E1 RAu CHER,

1 Mh/Mwwfm o. l..v BEARDsLEY Erm. 2,522,497 BREECH OPERATING MECHANISM Spt. 19, 1950 3 Sheet'SQ-Sheet -2 R|EL-E1EARD5LE RALPHW Fax Filed April 28, 1948 Patented Sept. 19,v 1950 Fox, Ghica Wai' he United States ecretary ofl termes interne et olv amended Ap'iil '30, 1928 The invention described vherein mayv be manufactured and used by or for the Governmentior governmental purposes, Without the payment to 151s of yany royalty thereon. The present invention relates to a breech operating mechanism for heavy caliber artillery Weapons, particularly to a mechanism for utilizing -during J,minterre'coil movement :of the weapon barrel and 'to release the potential energy of such compressed spring 'device during Vthe 'completion Vof 'the recoil movement Vto open the breechblock:

-Astil-l further object is `to 'provide 'formanual actuation of the breechblock indpendent'lyoi the automatic breeehblock-opein'g device.

The exact nature of this invention as well 'afs additional objects and advantages thereof iwill become apparent upon reference to the follow- -ing specification and accompanying draw-ings 'in f which: f

Figure lis a side elevational fview fdthe invention, partially in section, :applied 'to lan artillery weapon, the latter beingshown in lbatteryinosition preparatory to firing;

i? afs;

'I'hefbreechblock yI .is slid to either Aa clo'sedfor opened* position in, a vconventional manner ythrough ya c-rosshead, not shown, slidablefina ,Tshape'd- Slot 4 and attached yto a breechblock Vcranlr. The crankl 5 is integrally Yformed with tubular'shafgtkeyed toa mainshaftfl. f 1,

The ends `oit-he main shaft 1 are :keyed within bushingsf ,and 8 rotatably supportedwithin-the breech xiwingft' The lupper :end of `fthel mainshaft il is provided `with 1a crank ar-rn AE). A pintlep-in l0 Iconnectslthe crank arm .fito ali-nkfic'hain lil piv- `otallyatta'cl'ied:toa `lpistonr'od i12 for compressing 'a 'closingspring lSfWithin azsprin'g 'cylinder i4.:

Inra'xmanner well -known to 'the Tart, the krom- .pression'spring `l 3, through the linkrfehain lil vcon"- lnocl'ed to Grail-lk 910D' the .sha-ft Will 1131115711 the same to slide the breechblocl; l to a closingposi- YtioninStl-ieAbre'echiring 3. When fa round oi a'm- .munition 'is rammed into ythe .gun chamber, not fsnowhf'tne rim or the cartridge 'ease wiil't'rip `the fextractoisgno't shown, to release the Ibre'ecliblook If-or movement by :thel spring 3l-tothe closing po#- tin. 'v Y I :'Io'fthe `'upper'endfof the shaft lI is secured-a h aided pivt pin' -l 5 on which is -pivoted 'ai hand lever l?. '"Thej'hand lever Ii6 has a vlateral kpro- "J'ection "Ilfadaptedjto' strike a -'segmental Alug i8 integral tvit'hthecrank'arm. The segmental Figure 2 is an end elevational view ofFig-ure 1; Y'

Figure 3 isa par-tial bottom view of Figure 1';

Figure 4 is a bottom View of fa latch housing tforming part of the invention and shown `detached from the weapon offFigure 1;

-Figure 5 -is a sectional view throughiinee-S l' of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a sectional view throughline 6 6 ofrFigure 1;

Figure '7 is a partial view oi Figure-1, showing a hand lever for optionally `opening thel breechblock and a breech closing spring assembly for auto,- matically closing the breechblock-upon chamber ingof a cartridge case inthe gun chamber; ,and AFigure 8 is 4a sectional View through line .8-8 of`Figure 2. y A breechblock l is-s1idablein horizontalfguides 2 of abreech ring 3` of an-artillery piece. The breechblock l is of thehorizontal sliding type,

that'ie, the breeehbmck I is movable towarqraili .p away from an observer viewing-vigurel. This wp@Y 0f breechblk forme@ Par-f. of ilbesli invention-other than to illustrate itsa dapi ;a .bility to a gun, -the present invention .beingtequally Ylug lllfis made suiiiciently4 large in order `that lit may also function tocounterbalance the shaft 1. 1' e V'hantlflevejr' `l 6"isjemployed'formanually rotating -f'thesnafn 1 independenuy :of the auw;-

- matic l'breefch' "opening mechanism, in the event the occasion arises 'for such operation. Rotation foi" the' hand 'lever l 6 in` a counterclo'ckwise direc- 4.tion (seeFigu'rW) "Willcausits projection 'I'l 'to open the" vtr'eejeiibioekl l. ,Y However, kthe tubular Lshaft 1 isfreetfbe riate'dm 'acountereioekwise Qimanner'bytne automatic breechiopeningrniechaa ri d tjteeheageu byftnebin 122 fier-'turning 1 g andcons"equently*the"splined-shaft f1 loopen thetreeentieek il ana lsimiteinemay Attachedto `a bottom plate 26 secured to the breech ring 3 throughnbolts 26', is a circular g'ear casing'21 enclosing the circular plate 23 and carrying a tubular rack casing 28 in which is slidable a reciprocable rack 29 meshing with teeth ,Duringthis movement .in recoil the Aspring 40 will move-the piston 39 'forwardly {(to the right in Figure 1) to take up Vthe clearance between it and the depressed sear 50. This then results in the piston 39 likewise moving to the rear with the remainder of the mechanism.

Just prior to the termination of the recoil movement of@v the breech ring 3, the cam follower .484. willfbe carriedgpast the cam plate 41, thereby The rack 29 is provided with an extension 3'4` reciprocably supported by a lined stop sleeve 35 carried by a closing disk 36 for a spring cylinder 31 attached to the plate 26, as best seen in Figure 5.

The rack extensionf34 has an intermediate threaded portion 38 to which is secured a piston 39 for compressing between it and the disk 36 a reset spring 4E). The rack extension 34 also ter- ;minatesin a reduced push rod portion 4I adapted to strike a stop button 42 fastened to a plate 43 ,rigidly atached to the main carriage frame 44 of the weapon for a purpose to appear.

Attached to the top of spring cylinder 31, see

'Figure l, is a substantially rectangular latch .housing 45, a bottom View of which is shown in Figure 4. In one end of the housing 45 is journaled a stub shaft 46 for oscillation by a cam follower 41.secured to said shaft 46 and adapted to slide against and ol the underside of an L- shaped cam plate 48, in a manner to be described, rigidly secured to the main frame 44 of the weapon.

The stub shaft 46 has a central portion 49 of cylindrical cross section for rotatably supporting a sear 5,0. the shaftJ 43 and the cylindrical portion 49 the shaft 46 is provided with portions 5I of square cross section to which are secured the bifurcated ends 52 of a lever 53 which straddles the Sear 50.

centering pin 54 for locating a compression spring 55 seated in a notchv 56 on the cylinder 31. The spring 55 biases the lever `53,' in a clockwise direc- Intermediate the bearing portions of VThe free end of the lever 53 is provided with a 1r tion t'omaintain the" cam follower 41 against the cam plate 48.

A headed pin 51 loosely depends through a lever opening 53 in lever 53and is securely anchored to the sear 59. A spring'59 tendsto maintain the 4lever 53 andsear 5l! angularly separated. The

dropped into cooking position by the spring 59 with a minimum of effort.

Operation The weapon is shown in Figure 1 in battery p0- sition preparatory to ring. breech mechanism including breech ring 3 will move to the rear (to the left in Figure l) in recoil carrying with it the casings 21 and '28, spring cylinder 31 and latch `housing 45, as well as the Upon ring the` v mechanism enclosed by these devices, and including the cam follower 48 which rides along the cam plate 41 and held thereagainst by the spring 55 acting through the lever 53. v

A freeing the cam follower 48, the stub shaft 46 and.

the lever 53 forclockwise movement by the spring V5,57.

Clockwise `ori'upward movement of lever 53, see

AFigure 1, will drag the sear 50 therewith and out of engagement with the piston 39, whereupon the spring 4i)` will fforce the piston 39 and the extension 34 forwardly (to the right in Figure 1), causing the rack 29 to rotate the circular disk 23 ina clockwise direction 4which' in turn'causes the pin 22 to engage the notch 2l and rotate the shaft 1 in a clockwise direction, see Figure 3, to open the breechblock I and eject-the red cartridge case, the bi'eechblock l being held inI this open position by extractors, not shown but well known in the art. As the breechblock I opens, it will rotate the crank 5 in ya counterclockwise direction, viewed in Figure 7, to compress the return spring i3, thereby conditioning the same to return the breechblock l to a closed position when the extractors are released, all in a manner well known to the art.

As the weapon barrel returns in counterrecoil to battery position, to j the right when viewed in Figure 1, the extension 4I will'strike the stop button 42 coinpressing'the spring 40 .to theposition shownin Figure 1'. This will allowl the'sear 53 to be dropped 'in yfront, ofthe piston 39 by the cam follower 48 as vshown in Figure-1,'pre paratory to openingthe breechblock l Aai'teitl'l'e next round is iired. A

When a fresh round of ammunition is placed into the gun chamber, theextractor-s `vvilljbe tripped unlocking Vthe breechblocki I for closing counterrecoil,` a breechblock in said Abreechl mechanism reciprocable therein .between an open and a closed position, a `drivingfshaftmeans oscillatable in said breech'mechanisrn and'of'peratively connected to saidbreechblockfor reciprocating thesaine between said positions, 1a segmental gearj oscillata'bleon and relative to"s'aid 'driving shaft means, said'segmental'gear having la ,crank pin, said driving'sliaft meanshaving a `substantially semi-circular notch adapted to 1 be engaged by said crank pin, a vhousing structure carried by said breechv mechanism movable ytherewith relative to'said vgun carriage, 'a rack reciprocable in Said housing structureandmeshing with said segmental gear for oscillating; the

same, an extension* onlsaid rack, Aa` collar I fixed to said rack extension,v an expansion spring between said collar; and housing structure for driving said rack extensin in directionfojcounterrecoil of `said breech',.mechanismwherebyjsaid Creek 121121; kWill etuetgsailcl @iii/illettrisme@ to move the breechblock to the open position, a stub shaft journaled in said housing structure, a cam follower secured to said stub shaft for oscillating the same, a lever secured to said stub shaft, a sear rotatably mounted on said stub shaft and adapted to be depressed into the path of said collar to lock said rack in a cooking position, a cam means fixed on said gun carriage associated with said cam follower, a pin means slidably mounted in said lever and rigidly secured to said Sear for limiting angular separation between said lever and Sear, a compression spring encircling said pin means and abutting said lover and sear for yieldably holding said lever and sear separated, spring means between said housing structure and said lever biasing the same in a direction to cause withdrawal of the sear from the path of said collar and contact of said cam follower with said cam means, and a stop means on the gun carriage and in the path of said rack extension, said rack extension adapted to abut said stop means after a predetermined movement of said rack extension in the direction of counterrecoil of the breech mechanism to hold said rack extension in a cocked position.

2. In a weapon having a gun carriage, a breech mechanism mounted thereon for movement rearwardly in recoil and forwardly in counterrecoil, a breechblock in said breech mechanism reciprocable therein between an open and a closed position, a driving shaft means oscillatable in said breech mechanism and operatively connected to said breechblock for reciprocating the same between said positions, a segmental gear oscillatable on and relative to said driving shaft means, said segmental gear having a crank pin, said driving shaft means having a substantially' semi-circular notch adapted to be engaged by said crank pin, a housing structure carried by said breech mechanism and movable therewith relative to said gun carriage, reciprocable means in said housing structure for oscillating said gear, a sear mechanism mounted in said housing structure and adapted to be depressed into engagement with said reciprocable means to lock the same in a cooking position, a cam means between said gun carriage and said sear mechanism whereby predetermined movement of said sear mechanism with said breech mechanism in direction of recoil thereof will release said reciprocable means to open said breechblock.

3. In. a weapon having a gun carriage, a breech mechanism mounted thereon for movement rearwardly in recoil and forwardly in counterrecoil, a breechblock in said breech mechanism reciprocable therein between an open and a closed position, a shaft means oscillatable in said breech mechanism and operatively connected to said breechblock 4for reciprocating the same between said positions, driving means associated with said shaft means for actuating the same in a direction to move said breechblock to the open position, means on said gun carriage for moving said driving means to a cocked position during movement of said breech mechanism in counterrecoil, latching means holding said driving means in a cocked position and cam means between said gun carriage and said latching means for releasing said driving means at a predetermined distance before termination of movement of said breech mechanism in recoil.

4. In a weapon having a gun carriage, a breech mechanism thereon for movement rearwardly in recoil and forwardly in counterrecoil, a breechblock in said breech mechanism reciprocable therein between an open and a closed position, a driving shaft means oscillatable in said breech mechanism and voperatively connected to said breechblock for reciprocating the same between said positions, activating means associated with said driving sha-ft means for actuating the same in a direction to move said breechblock to the open position, means utilizing movement of said breech mechanism in counterrecoil for energizing said activating means, latching means associated with said activating means for holdingthe same when energized, cam means adjacent said latching means for rendering the same inoperative during movement of the breech mechanism in recoil to release said activating means to move said breechblock to the open position.

5. The combination of claim v3 wherein the driving means includes a segmental gear oscillatable on and relative to said shaft means, a crank pin on said segmental gear, a substantially semicircular notch on said shaft means adapted to be engaged by said crank pin, a reciprocable rack meshing with said gear for oscillating the same, an extension on said rack, a collar fixed to said rack extension, and a spring for driving said collar in direction of counterrecoil of said breech mechanism whereby said crank pin will actuate said shaft means to move the breechblock to the open position.

6. In a weapon having a gun carriage, a breech mechanism mounted thereon for movement rearwardly in recoil and forwardly in counterrecoil, a breechblock in said `breech mechanism reciprocable therein between an open and a closed position, a driving shaft means oscillatable in said breech mechanism and operatively connected to said breechblock for reciprocating the same between said positions, a segmental gear oscillatable on and relative to said driving shaft means, a crank pin on said segmental gear, means onsaid driving shaft means adapted to be engaged by said crank pin, a housing structure carried by said breech mechanism and movable therewith relative to said gun carriage, a rack means reciprocable in said housing structure and meshing with said gear for oscillating the same, spring means associated with said housing structure and said rack means for driving the same in direction of counterrecoil of said breech mechanism during recoil movement thereof whereby said crank pin will actuate said driving shaft means to move the breechblock to the open position, means in the path of movement of said rack means and adapted to move the same to a cooking position to compress said spring means during movement of the breech mechanism in counterrecoil, a cam follower means on said housing structure, a sear rotatably mounted on said cam follower means and adapted to be depressed thereby into the path of said rack means to lock the same in the cooking position, a cam means on said gun carriage associated with said cam follower means to cause withdrawal of the sear from the path of said rack means after a predetermined movement of said breech mechanism in recoil to release said rack means for actuation by the spring means to move said breechblock to the open position.

ORIE L. BEARDSLEY. RALPH W. FOX. HARVEY M. BRAUCI-IER.

No references cited. 

